IPL 2015: KKR keen to cash home advantage

The Knight Riders looking to turn the tables on the Super Kings

After losing out to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by a slender margin of two runs, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) would want to turn the tables on them when the two sides clash again in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday. Struggling with just seven points from as many matches, the Knight Riders will desperately seek to win this tie, given the struggle in the mid-table.

They almost beat CSK in their last tie in Chennai after restricting them to 134 for six in 20 overs but a resurgent Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led outfit pulled off a thrilling two-run win, courtesy a stupendous bowling and fielding effort which propelled them to the top of the table with six win from seven encounters so far.

But back on their home turf, the Knight Riders will be boosted by the vocal supporters who are sure to pack the Eden again backing the home team, a scenario where the hunter can become the hunted.

However, the fact is Super Kings have beaten KKR in 10 of the 15 matches between them so far.

CSK are a well-settled unit. Kolkata, on the other hand, have experimented a lot with the playing 11. And with West Indian spinner Sunil Narine banned on Wednesday from bowling his off-spinning deliveries due to a suspected illegal bowling action, they will be forced again to make changes to the team. It will be interesting to see if KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir opts to chase again, as their batting unit put up a dismal performance chasing 134 runs in the last game.

Robin Uthappa sparkled in his short cameo of 39 runs and the responsibility of scoring would again be on his shoulders along with the misfiring Manish Pandey and Gambhir upfront. Yusuf Pathan needs to fire as well to have any chance of outdoing CSK. It remains to be seen if Gambhir continues with Australian pacer Pat Cummins or brings his strike bowler Morne Morkel in the side. Chennai will rely on their opening pair to deliver again, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith. The bowling looks strong too with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra and Dwayne Bravo all in great form with the leather.